Electricity Outages Top Challenge for 62% of Businesses in Ukraine This Winter

«Winter Ready: Ukraine Business Resilience Index 2026» Survey results - Download PDF

Businesses demonstrate moderate confidence in their readiness for the winter period. Reliable power supply remains the biggest risk to business continuity. Companies continue to prepare for the winter: 60% of planned priority measures are still being implemented, with backup energy supply and employee support among the top priorities. The overall Business Resilience Index stands at 58%.

These are the findings of the joint study by Deloitte Ukraine and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, “Winter Ready: Ukraine Business Resilience Index 2026.”

The findings provide an assessment of how prepared Ukrainian businesses are for potential challenges during the winter period and identify the key factors affecting business continuity.

Business Readiness for the Winter Period

Most companies are moderately confident in their readiness for the winter period. 11% of surveyed companies strongly agree that their company is ready for the potential challenges of the autumn-winter period 2026/27, while another 75% rather agree. At the same time, 9% disagree with this statement, while 5% are uncertain.

The main risks to business continuity remain power supply (62%), security of physical assets (45%), and logistics and transportation (42%) – factors over which companies have limited control. Other risks include staffing (29%), heating (28%), water supply (24%), and communications/telecommunications (22%).

Companies continue to prepare for winter: 60% of planned priority measures are still being implemented, while 21% have already been completed.

Among the priority measures to ensure sustainable business operations before the start of the winter period 2026/27, respondents most frequently cited strengthening backup energy supply (74%) and preparing employee support plans (47%).

Other important measures include preparing alternative locations/opportunities for business relocation (28%), providing alternative heating and maintaining temperature conditions (27%), and preparing alternative logistics routes and transport solutions (27%).

Most companies have sufficient resources to maintain financial resilience for at least six months: 62% can sustain critical operations without attracting external financing, while 53% can meet their payroll obligations for the same period.

At the same time, 34% of companies have not established a contingency reserve for unforeseen expenses related to potential winter disruptions. Among companies that have established such a reserve, the most common level is 3–5% of total expenses.

Efforts to strengthen employee support focus primarily on safety and work flexibility to ensure continuity of operations, with each area identified by 67% of companies. Only 9% of companies consider their current level of employee support sufficient.

Supply-related risks are prompting companies to establish alternative logistics routes. 60% of companies for which supply chains are critical to their operations have already implemented or plan to implement such measures within the next three months.

Interaction between businesses and local communities remains limited: the majority of companies (70%) are not familiar with local resilience plans, while only 10% of respondents have been involved in their development and implementation.

Business Resilience Index

The overall level of business resilience stands at 58%, corresponding to a moderate level. The highest scores were recorded in cyber resilience and operational resilience, while financial resilience remains the most vulnerable component. The Business Resilience Index is calculated as the arithmetic mean of four key components: financial resilience, operational resilience, human capital management resilience, and cyber resilience.

Financial resilience is the main area of business vulnerability, at 43%. Moderate diversification of funding sources and limited opportunities to reduce costs (with 62% of companies reporting limited ability to quickly cut costs or indicating that most of their costs are fixed) reduce companies’ ability to respond rapidly to financial challenges.

Operational resilience (66%) is based on accumulated experience but requires greater formalization. Nearly every second company has a formalized business continuity plan (48%), and most of these companies have tested their plans within the past year. Most companies have formally identified responsible individuals and decision-making mechanisms for crisis situations. However, around 30% still do not have formalized descriptions of processes and the allocation of responsibilities.

Previous experience has prompted companies to strengthen their energy autonomy, primarily through backup power sources, energy storage systems, and fuel reserves.

Supporting employee productivity and psychological wellbeing is an important aspect of human capital management resilience (55%), although most companies still rely primarily on fragmented practices. Other areas for development include the formalization of crisis communication and employee backup planning practices for critical processes. Most companies are able to temporarily substitute unavailable employees to maintain critical processes. At the same time, one in four respondents sees this as a significant challenge for their business

Cyber resilience is the most developed area, at 70%. In 40% of companies, cyber resilience is integrated into the enterprise risk management system, while 31% have formalized cyber risk management processes. Most companies systematically monitor compliance with cybersecurity standards, although only around one quarter of businesses undergo regular independent audits.

The study is based on a survey of top management of AmCham Ukraine member companies conducted in September 2026. 95 business leaders representing companies from various sectors of the Ukrainian economy participated in the study. 56% of respondents are CEOs.